Last week, Efabless announced the second edition of its AI Generated Open-Source Silicon Design Challenge series. As we discussed in earlier blogs, the first challenge was a great success with twelve submissions and six successful designs created in just three weeks. The contestants used natural language prompts to create… Read More
Has Electronics Bottomed?
The current slump in the electronics market began in 2021. Smartphone shipments versus a year earlier turned negative in 3Q 2021. The smartphone market declines in 2020 were primarily due to COVID-19 related production cutbacks. The current smartphone decline is due to weak demand. According to IDC, smartphone shipments were… Read More
SEMICON West 2023 Summary – No recovery in sight – Next Year?
-SEMICON well attended but bouncing along the biz bottom
-Recovery seems at least a year away with memory even more
-AI creates hope but not impactful- Disconnect tween stocks & reality
-AMAT me too platform- Back end benefits from chiplets
SEMICON busy but subdued
SEMICON is certainly back to pre-covid levels or perhaps better.… Read More
Sondrel Extends ASIC Turnkey Design to Supply Services From Europe to US
It’s no secret that system companies are driving a lot of new silicon. Google, AWS, Tesla and others have well-established design teams delivering differentiated servers, AI engines and other technologies. I’m sure NVIDIA suspects sub rosa projects are already underway in many of these hyperscalers to design out their GPUs.… Read More
Semiconductor CapEx down in 2023
Semiconductor capital expenditures (CapEx) increased 35% in 2021 and 15% in 2022, according to IC Insights. Our projection at Semiconductor Intelligence is a 14% decline in CapEx in 2023, based primarily on company statements. The biggest cuts will be made by the memory companies, with a 19% drop. CapEx will drop 50% at SK Hynix… Read More
Efabless Celebrates AI Design Challenge Winners!
The first AI Generated Open-Source Silicon Design Challenge invited participants to use generative AI to design an open-source silicon chip and tape it out in just three weeks. The contestants were required to create Verilog code from natural language prompts, and then implemented their designs using the chipIgnite platform… Read More
Optimism Prevailed at CEO Outlook, though Downturn Could Bring Unpredictable Challenges
Chances are anyone who attended the CEO Outlook will say it was an engaging, entertaining and enlightening view of the chip design space, though CEO Outlook may be a misnomer as four of the seven panelists had C-Suite titles other than CEO.
Regardless, the collective view was optimistic, though caution prevailed as the economic… Read More
Intel Internal Foundry Model Webinar
Intel held a webinar today to discuss their IDM2.0 internal foundry model. On the call were Dave Zinsner Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Jason Grebe Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Corporate Planning Group.
On a humorous note, the person moderating the attendee questions sounded … Read More
Nominations for Phil Kaufman Award, Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame Close June 30
Plan ahead now because Friday, June 30, is the deadline to submit nominations for the Phil Kaufman Award and the Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame for anyone you think is deserving of these honors. If you haven’t given it any thought, please consider nominating someone.
Before we look at both and the nomination requirements, here’s a thumbnail… Read More
Applied Materials Announces “EPIC” Development Center
On May 22nd Applied Materials announced a new development center, Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization Center (EPIC).
Applied Materials already operates the Maydan Technology Center (MTC), a billion-dollar development facility with over 120 advanced process tools and 80 metrology and inspection tools… Read More
Selling the Forges of the Future: U.S. Report Exposes China’s Reliance on Western Chip Tools